Friday, 29 July 2011

The Lion Roars Back to Life

The Lion Hotel, Brewood

Most visitors to Brewood will know the Swan Hotel in the main square - although it's often confused with the Victorian folly "Speedwell Castle" which adjoins it.On the other side of the road is the Lion Hotel. When I first visited it about four years ago it was very run down and served a clientele that probably wouldn't have been welcome in the village's other pubs. Then it closed, which was a great shame as its an historic building, Grade II listed and has been part of the village's life for over 200 years. It looked very much as if it would end up as cheap flats luxury duplex apartments so imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered last night that it is has reopened as an upmarket hotel/restaurant but one which retains a public bar selling local beers including my favourite Joule's Pale Ale at "only" £2.75 a pint!

One feature that, happily, has been retained is the original CTC plaque. These plaques were issued by the Cyclists' Touring Club to indicate accomodation that was approved by the club. This, of course, was in the days when cycle-touring was the preserve of the wealthy who could afford to stay in places like the Lion. The CTC still "approves" accommodation for its members but these days a vinyl window sticker suffices.

The re-opened Lion is a worthy addition to a village not exactly short of excellent places for eating and drinking that make Brewood such an attractive stop-over for boaters on the Shroppie.There's more about the Lion on their website here.